The Global Read Aloud

Credit: Kidsday illustration / Alana Hernandez
The Global Read Aloud is where students around the world connect globally by using Skype, Twitter, or Google Hangout. They read the same book and talk about the book. So far, 500,000 students from more than 60 countries have participated.
This all started by a 7th grade teacher, Pernille Ripp, in Oregon, Wisconsin. She started this project because she wanted to expand her global collaboration. The Global Read Aloud began in 2010 with a simple goal in mind: one book to connect the world.
This program is free so everyone can participate and you don’t need a teacher to join. Anybody can participate whether you are in kindergarten or middle school. The only thing this program recommends is to pick a comfortable, just-right book that you can read and enjoy by yourself, with a family member, or as a class.
Our class is reading the book, “Fish in a Tree” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. It is about a girl named Ally and nobody knows she can’t read, but she does have a passion for drawing (she loves the book “Alice in Wonderland”). Her dad is employed and she has moved seven times in seven years, so nobody has realized she cannot read. She also gets sent to the principal a lot because she wants to get excused from all the work. Ally is now in Mr. Daniels’ class (read the book to know why) and is friends with Albert and Keisha, but, with the support of Mr. Daniels, Albert, and Keisha, will she start to fit in and become a better reader or will she keep getting bullied by Shay and Jessica (the mean girls)? Read to find out!
You should participate in the Global Read Aloud because this program is meant to make the world a little smaller, to open our eyes to the rest of the world and look at all our shared experiences.